It was an ugly game for LSU, there’s no doubt about it.
On paper, it was a 38-23 loss to a red-hot Texas A&M team that’s now ranked No. 10 in the nation. The Aggies have won seven straight since dropping their season opener against Notre Dame, so this type of loss is nothing to be ashamed of.
Still, even a cursory glance at the numbers isn’t kind for the Tigers, especially offensively. LSU gained 440 yards of total offense, which is great, but only 35 of those yards came on the ground, which is not great.
That left it up to redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who tried his best but ultimately failed. Yes, he threw for 405 yards and two touchdowns, which is great, but he also threw three interceptions, which isn’t great.
Three turnovers from your quarterback is tough to come back from, but head coach Brian Kelly wasn’t ready to throw Nussmeier under the bus in the post-game news conference.
“It’s hard for me to sit here right now and give you an in-detail evaluation of what happened, but we did not get the kind of production that would keep Garrett Nussmeier from having to stand on his freaking head at the quarterback position and making plays,” Kelly said (h/t On3). “He feels like he has to. In a large degree, I get it. He’s going to be the guy we all blame. I just don’t think we give him enough balance within the offense and it makes him vulnerable because he has to do so much.”
The lack of run support made it easy for Texas A&M to focus on Nussmeier. The Aggies’ defense allowed just 1.6 yards per carry to the Tigers, which is dominant on their part and pathetic on LSU’s.
The now head into a bye week but they look ahead to a massive matchup with No. 14 Alabama, which just beat now-No. 25 Missouri, 34-0. Already with two losses, this isn’t a game LSU can afford to lose, so the Tigers will have to figure out a way to get Nussmeier more ground support.
“I mean, we’ve lost our margin, right?” Kelly said. “We have no margin for error. We have to go back and look at some of the things I just talked about, right? We have to build balance within the offense.”
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